death row. and that tonight is where we find bruce leshan there live, bruce? >> reporter: derek, we're now about two hours away from when this execution is all but certain to begin. governor tim cain this afternoon, turned down john muhammad's request for clemency. the sniper's attorney complained that virginia is executing a gulf war veteran before he has had a chance to exhaust every appealable issue. but they also said that they would not appeal anying longer to save his life. >> reporter: john muhammad is right now in one of three cells here adjacent to the death chamber. he's been meeting with family and he picked a last meal, but asked correction officials not to tell the public about what the meal was. at about 9 p.m., guards will strap the 48-year-old to this side. and then send sodium potassium

chloride pulsing through his veins. his lawyers will likely be his only friends nearby. he has no spiritual advisor to accompany him to the death chambers. muhammad and the then 17-year-old lee malvo may have killed 16 people and wounded 7 in a cross country murder spree that finally ended with their arrest at a maryland rest stop, asleep in an old car set up as a sniper's nest. muhammad was sentenced to death for the murder of dean meyers who would stop to fill up with gas before heading home from manassas. meyer's brother will be here to watch muhammad's execution. >> if we don't consider that there is any winners in this. we're not ready to celebrate his death. >> reporter: the father of rivera will be here today, vacuuming her car and just put her baby's car seat on the roof. >> we had to look at our daughter lying in the coffin.

i want to see him headed there for this. >> reporter: there are separate rooms for the family witnesses and for the media witnesses and the six citizen witnesses. but the curtains open, the guards will lead muhammad in and restrain him. then they will close the curtains while they establish the iv lines, and reopen them while they inject into those iv lines. they surrender him unconscious within seconds. and then the pan cure yum will paralyze his breathing and finally the potassium chloride will arrest his heart. >> thank you, we'll be back with you later tonight. one of the people that will witness his execution is his first wife, carol. and tonight, his sister is speaking out about what he has already promised his ex. >> he told me that he had something he wanted to tell us. he'll tell her when she gets there. >> reporter: wife carol moved out there to baton rouge after

converting to islam where he met lee. stay with 9news now for our complete coverage of the execution that we'll bring you all of the press conferences out of the greensville correction center live on wusa9.com. that's where he will also have more information on all of the victims and an interactive timeline of the sniper shootings. then tonight at 11, bruce leshan and surae chinn will have live coverage from virginia. let's dip into a press conference. one of muhammad's lawyer is speaking live even as we speak. >> being able to adjust to whatever the situation is before them. >> is he remorseful? >> well, mr. muhammad maintains his innocence in this case, and he always has. so he is now reforceful -- remorseful although he does extend the condolences to his families. what these families went through was tragic. on every level.

and given the adjustments for them and that they are tragic. >> he has no spiritual advisor. but i think that he is has no priest or rabbi. >> he's very spiritual. >> but no spiritual advisor, correct? >> i don't know if that is correct or not. >> my point is, how is he approaching? he's aware that he's about to die. >> right. >> how is he approaching that? how is he dealing with that? >> mr. muhammad said that prison did not make him so prison will not break him. his spirit has always been high. >> it is my understanding that he did meet with his son. >> how do you expect them to do that? >> for one of the lawyers for john allen muhammad will be executed in less than two hours. around two hours from now down in virginia, you j heard the question from our own bruce leshan. how is he handling death?

he said prison didn't make him, prison won't break him. his spirits are high. we'll find out more about what he said later on in our broadcast and later on tonight. and again on wusa9.com. you can see all press conferences coming outs of that part of our virginia and the full story for you tonight at 11. the dc mayor stopped short of admitting he often used his police security detail to run traffic lights and to slow traffic down while he is out there learning to ride his bike. our own bruce leshan caught up with him earlier today. >> hill do everything possible to not only make traffic flow better. >> reporter: he said that today he will stop riding on the parkway that is the law.

>> i didn't know that is an issue. stkpwhráfr con -- >> reporter: controversy has plagued the young mayor. >> i hope that you know that i'm answering more questions than you are answering here. >> i'm trying to get context to respond to you. >> reporter: any questions i have asked for them, they have never taken notice. like the $82 million in the government contracts awarded to the developers. some of them are friends without first ending the deals to the dc council with what it was called for by the city law. >> reporter: they are independent. and you know, i think that you have to talk to them about why they did not submit the contract. >> to repair the recreation center that was awarded. but critics say that they desrerted that fund to the independent agency to get around the city requirements for them and more to be approved by the

council. and saying that it is at the park side center. >> reporter: work is scheduled to begin this month. but the administration, they diverted the recreational funds to the housing authority and the housing authority that failed to bring the council into the loop. $12 million in contract that now need to be submitted to them and we'll vote for any work. >> reporter: the mayor says that there have been honest mistakes to close that and to admitting that any of those mistakes are his. bruce leshan, 9news now and wusa9.com. the mayor does say that the independent housing authority has agreed to submit all future contracts of a million dollars or more through the dc council for approval. supporters of the mayor privately sailed out of the criticism that is political and these three other council members are weighing in possible campaigns for the dc mayor himself. yes, we asked you last night to weigh in on the mayor the recycling issue. we got a mixed bag of responses. and while they say that it is really no big deal. this really is a teapot. he's the mayor. he does require some protection.

and there is nothing wrong with this, move on. but our good friend in virginia, they said to beware the perks of the political power. if something happens to the elected officials once they are out there and surrounded by the trapping of the office, i believe that has happened to mayor. should he be able to ride his bike? absolutely. there are plenty of places to securely ride a bike without shutting down streets. much more on the mayor and dare we say it, cycle gates in his mail bag a little later on in the broadcast. right now, you're looking live at andrew's air force base or at least you're suppose to be. and that's where president obama's helicopter or shall i say plane of air force one just landed. spending the day at fort hood texas and taking part in the memorial for 13 people shot and killed. and that shooting rampage there, just last week. there it is. you know, that president getting on to the helicopter. they will have more of that coming up later on. from once it was hurricane

ida. bringing a bit of water to alabama. tonight, some of the moisture even stretching into our part of the world. topper is here with that forecast first. say it ain't so? >> i'm afraid it is so. it looks like the remanence of ida will affect us tomorrow and thursday and friday and possibly into friday, derek. let me show you the radar from the southeast. you can see a ton of moisture coming our way from georgia up into the carolinas. and that's just a few hours away from even the metro area. the good news is that the heaviest rain, they will stay south and east of us. now, for tonight, cloudy, breezy, cool. some showers are developing. light rain is developing out there for them particularly west of i-81. low temperatures, 45 to 50. and temperatures right now, they are still mild, the high was 66. still 60 downtown. still 55 at manassas and 59 at fredericksburg. we'll come back and detail just how much rain you'll fall by friday. we'll also look ahead to the weekend, derek. >> thank you, topper. and now, coming up, the super bowl stopped paying tribute to those injured at the ball -l -- battled.

>> and to pay tribute to 13 men and women. we're not able to escape the horror of wars even in the comfort of the homes. >> and the president honoring the fallen from last week's shootings at fort hood. stay with us. once there was a thing called paper money. it had to be passed hand to hand. it had to be mailed. it had to be locked away. then visa used technology, turning money into electrons. zeroes. ones. digital currency. digital currency did things paper money couldn't. amazing things. a merchant in mumbai makes a mobile transaction with a bank in london. a taxi in new york says "yes" to fares without cash. states like nebraska distribute benefits without mailing checks, saving millions. digital currency became the currency of progress,

because progress is what it brings the world. visa. currency of progress. their memory will be honored in the places they live and by the people they touch. their lives work is our security and the freedom that we all too often take for granted.

>> 13 pairs of helmets lining the stage at today's fort hood memorial. they were each accompanied by a photograph of one of the men and women killed in last week's shooting rampage. president obama denounced what they called the twisted logic of the shooting. the psychiatrist and them are accused of the murders. >> the veterans and the current troop at the medical army center got a thank you letter from the redskins today. >> wow, that's awesome. that's just awesome for them. >> and that is kind of awesome, isn't it? to sign the football and posing pictures for some of the heros today. >> and tomorrow night at 7:00, join us for a special edition of 9news now when we will salute our men and women serving overseas and other heros here on the home front. that's tomorrow night on your only local news at 7:00. well, the local pastor might be a trouble for them. see how some helping hands are becoming his heros today. and plus, topper is back

with that full forecast. we'll keep it right here.

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working overtime to get out that flu vaccine. and tonight, anita brikman, shows us the new resource that is out today to help you find a shot. >> reporter: google is teaming up with them to find out if new flu shot vaccine has become available in your area. here's how it works. all part of google's map as you can see here, just enter the area you want information about like the district of columbia. and we click on that and up pops a list of places you can get the h1n1 flu shot or both. google is quick to point out that it is only getting informs about 20 states right now. but it's working with the centers for disease control to update those numbers. and you can get a link to

google's map on wusa9.com. just click on our flu alert. derek, back to you. >> thank you, anita. >> up until now, a local pastor's desire to comfort the conflicted has not made him very comfortable. in fact, his one-room house in north dc is so run down that they want to tear it down. today, some helping hands that came together to build it back up. >> until i saw them begin to tear things down. tp-rbz >> reporter: dc pastor can't believe it, but his home over the last three years is being fixed up. >> this is a guy that deserves a break. he does so much for the community in an area where there are lots of youth violence and people who are trying to hang on and to do good things for them in the community, he's one of them. >> reporter: rogers contacted habitat for humanity. and today with funding and employees from mars candy, the house is being repaired.

at least on the outside. these are people with spweg few is and they just need a hand in, not a hand out. >> and that unfortunately will not change today. still, he preaches at area churches and delivers food to those in need. >> i have been using candle light right now because the electric has been turned off here. >> reporter: they wanted to demolish the house, but now the house gets an appraisal. they are now closer to the goal of restoring the house to the purpose and an outreach center for the community. >> reporter: and habitat for humanity says it'll take about a week to fix up the house. and we want to know if you need to work in the rain, top. >> i'm afraid they will. ida will be with us for a

while. no flooding in the metro area. that's where we'll see the rain. but the heaviest activity is south of us. we'll see one form or another. clouds ran the showers. it looks like through saturday. >> what? >> yes. here is kr-r forecast. >> i thought it was suppose to be nice. >> yeah. >> okay. i knew you would call me on that one. stkwhr all right, the next three days. 54 tomorrow, some rain. 52 on thursday, rain. we've got to keep the chance for rain and showers on friday. and again in the middle 50s. for tonight, cloudy, breezy, cool. showers, lite rain, south and west of town. low temperatures, 45 to 50. winds will increase out of the northeast at about 10 to 15. temperatures right now, still mild. upper 50s out there at good faitheringsburg. and 59 upper marlboro and still upper 50s to the west. and even out here, 56. that's not bad. tomorrow morning, cloudy, breezy, cool. some light rain, heavier south and east of town. i think if you were north of town, you may actually go through the commute dry. you might probably come home with a wet commute. 40s to 50s. winds again, northeasterly at

10 to 15. by the afternoon, cloudy, breezy, and cooler with no rain. a heavy south and east of town. high temperatures, 50 to 55. the winds just increasing. northeasterly add 10 to 20 and rather gusty. so we're not done with ida just yet. some rain the showers for the metro area. and now, each erosion, another problem. and that will arose some of the beaches. clouds or rain or showers or some combination out there will be with us. it looks like through saturday. look at the rainfall. very tight out there. doesn't go very far to get a big difference in rainfall. about half an inch. about an inch. and downtown about an inch. just south of town, an inch and a half and down towards southern maryland. two inches of rain. we won't see any flooding from that bulls eye to be out there where they will get four to eight inches of rain. here comes the activity. a lot of showers and rain. moving up the eastern side of the appalachian that will be seeing three to four to five inches of rain in the southeast.

mid-50s on friday. and the showers are still on saturday. not a washout. still in the 60s. we have not changed. still 70s for the redskins. that drop will be nice and cool on monday and then mild again on tuesday. sunday might be okay. >> yeah, very nice. >> all right. okay. let's get to our weird news file. in life there are things you eat and things that go on your feet and rarely shall the two things meet. and this would be one of those times. check out the edible loafers. they are actually called bread shoes. they sell different flavors. black, white, something called classic. and believe it or not, at $32 a pair, more than one of the categories is sold out. so soft and crunchy they will

give you the money keys. >> i can't eat where i put my feet. >> no.

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it had to be locked away. then visa used technology, turning money into electrons. zeroes. ones. digital currency. digital currency did things paper money couldn't. amazing things. a merchant in mumbai makes a mobile transaction with a bank in london. a taxi in new york says "yes" to fares without cash. states like nebraska distribute benefits without mailing checks, saving millions. digital currency became the currency of progress, because progress is what it brings the world. visa. currency of progress.

in the mail bag tonight, more reactions from the mayor's bike ride and the fact that he has a police escort when he is out there and that at times, it's backing up the traffic. chris from maryland says don't hate, appreciate. and here's a guy who is committed to staying healthy while working at a very demanding job. and i cycle regularly and competitively with a close group of guys. i know from personal experiences that his riding makes him much better in all aspects of his life including performs his

duties as mayor. but patricia in virginia calls the mayor arrogant and it is not just him that has her mad. they are trying to get to and from work and totally shameful. one example of politics at its worst. there are plenty of bike trails and safe areas without endangering the cyclist to the heavy traffic and the motorists and they are angered at these cyclists and they are holding the antics. i appreciate derek's closure about biking with the mayor. now, derek, i want to know what have you learned? well, i learned i hope you are never behind me on my sunday group's rides. as i said yesterday, i have been out there for sides. and i will point out, respect is a two-way street. if you would rather have the road to yourself, so would we cyclists. would you rather see a group of ten riders in front of you that you will eventually pass by or a group of ten cars just adding

to your traffic troubles? just a thought. put yours in the mail bag. the address is mailbag@wusa9.com. well, that is our report. i'll be right back here tonight at 11 along with anita brikman. tonight, we'll be live in virginia for john allen muhammad's execution. police, trying to lose weight, all that tonight on 9news now at 11. don't forget, log on any time you would like on wusa9.com. we'll see you a bit later on. bye.

"entertainment tonight," in hi-definition. >> oprah's tv face-off with sarah palin. >> we've never met or spoken until now. >> the interview many thought would not happen. plus -- >> is it sarah playing tug of war with your child? >> levi johnston's custody battle today. >> why do you think she's so mad at you? >> probably a few things i said. she's not used to people trying to take her on. >> all new bomb shells. >> it doesn't bother me. she ain't no thing. breaking news, could david letterman's extortion suspect go free? >> you are on the bottom now.